Sponsored by
Action on Swillington farm smell
Action will finally be taken over a vile-smelling farm in Leeds which drew almost 450 complaints to the Environment Agency.
The organisation had previously been accused of giving a "toothless" response to the problem at Brecks Farm in Swillington, after visiting the premises 50 times but not doing anything to reduce the stench.
* Click here for latest YEP news.
Now, the EA has ordered the farm to take a series of measures at the slurry pit, including sealing it all-year-long with a hard crust to prevent odours escaping and employing new technology to filter out some of the stronger smells.
* Click here to watch latest YEP news and sport video reports.
No muck spreading will take place on weekends and bank holidays, or when the wind is blowing in the direction of communities.
Coun Mark Dobson (Lab, Garforth and Swillington) said: "It is an inevitable consequence of living in a semi-rural area that there will be an unpleasant smell on occasions during the muck spreading seasons.
"However, the smells resulting from Brecks Farm were all year round and needed to be tackled.
"These measures will not eradicate all farm-related odours. However, if they work as planned, residents will no longer have to suffer all summer long."
Brecks Farm was the subject of 446 complaints since 2007 and 50 visits from EA officials due to the offensive smell emitting from the slurry pit, forcing residents to stay indoors and keep their doors and windows closed.
The figures were revealed in the YEP last month after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request was submitted by Coun Dobson, who slammed the agency for wasting public money and said enforcement action was "long overdue".
At the time, Robert Hirst, whose family has worked Brecks Farm for more than 70 years, said the farm had already invested a lot of money in equipment to improve the situation and didn't want to cause problems.
Coun James Lewis (Lab, Kippax and Methley) said: "It seems that in recent months, since much of this work has been in place,the number ofcomplaints raised with us has sharply fallen.
"We will continue to keep a watchful eye on the situation, but in the meantime we welcome these improvements."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 18 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
